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11/05/2004 Shostakovich's Lady Macbeth
Shostakovich's Lady Macbeth of Mtensk, the surprise hit of the current Royal Opera House season, was ignored for decades, having fallen foul of a Stalin era artistic diktat. Nevertheless, its house premiere certainly pulled in the crowds at Covent Garden last month - following rave reviews, you couldn't get seats for love nor money. But having tried to listen to a live recording of the production on BBC Radio 3 on Saturday (with gritted teeth), I really wonder what all the fuss was about. It occurred to me more than once that Comrade Stalin's rejection of the work - he apparently walked out of a performance long before the end - might have been made on aesthetic, rather than ideological, grounds. And that maybe Old Uncle Joe wasn't such a bad judge. More likely, my negative response highlighted the shortcomings of audio media for opera - that a work which is new to you needs to be seen as well as heard; radio, like CD, is fine if you already know the work. You need to experience a new work in the theatre, or on TV. Lady Macbeth notwithstanding, ROH's newly-announced 2004/2005 season looks compelling, nay unmissable. Watch this space. Gerry Smith
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